


Happiness

by emilyfuckingprentiss



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-22 00:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9574754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyfuckingprentiss/pseuds/emilyfuckingprentiss
Summary: When he asked his fellow agent to speak with him on the current case, he did not expect to see the simplest glimpse of true happiness in the older woman's home.





	

He knocked carefully, the winter thawing from his trembling fingers. The large door swung open with ease, the woman whom he had called an hour previous standing before him in short boxers and a loose tee shirt. A poignant aroma of chocolate chip cookies and berry shampoo began ribboning his mind. “Hey, Reid,” the woman smiled, her usual wide, white grin greeting him as she gestured for him to enter the quite familiar home. He stepped onto the hardwood flooring, relishing in the overwhelmingly sweet scent of the baked goods. Glancing toward the counter, he noticed a porcelain plate displaying at least twenty cookies. “You can have one, you know,” the older woman chuckled, nudging him with a gentle arm.   
The latest case was deeming difficulty for the team, scraping what was left of their sanity for answers or thoughts on the local serial killer. Having only been assigned the case for twenty four hours, he found himself infatuated by the files, sitting alone in his apartment raking through each miniscule detail with unhealthy obsession. Drowning his mind and empty stomach in seven cups of coffee, he thought to call another agent in hopes of discussing the case; however, the only one who answered was Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss, his fellow agent as well as the wife of his best friend. He was grateful for she invited him over, offering dinner along with a full, off-the-record discussion about the assignment.   
As he enjoyed a second cookie silently, the older woman reading through his chaotic notes and scribbles, he became aware of the pitter-patter of footsteps approaching them with a quiet gurgle. “Sophia!” he cooed in sights of the delightful one year old waddling toward him. Her thick, dark hair was soaked, dripping onto her bare skin, neglecting of any clothing despite the purple cloth diaper. Holding his arms out, he accepted her small embrace, lifting her to a seat upon his lap.   
“Sophia Grace Prentiss!” His best friend charged down the staircase, a white towel in one hand, a pajama set in the other. The child’s giggle was sweet like the chocolate chips filling the cookies as she tangled her small fingers in his shoulder length hair. Looking at the other woman, a smile tugging at her pink lips, he laughed peering at the water soaking the grey, ‘Yale’ tee shirt she wore, surely her wife’s. She collected the infant from his lap, placing a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Hi, Uncle Spencer. What are you doing here?” she questioned, flashing him the same sincere smile he had fallen in love with fifteen years previous.   
He watched for a moment, his dear friend lay the child on the soft rug, pulling a grey onesie over her tangled hair. “I needed to talk about the case with Prentiss. How have you been?” The woman tucked her child’s small feet into white socks, placing a raspberry kiss on each sole. He felt privileged to watch the woman he grew up with surrounded by her own happiness, from the woman he had unintentionally matched her with to his goddaughter who giggled, a reflection of her mother.   
“I’ve been busy,” she responded with a subtle laugh, raising her eyebrows as she carried the child to her wife. The older woman placed her hands beneath the infant’s arms, accepting her onto her lap. “Are you hungry, Spence? I can make you something, if you want.” He became fixated on the way his fellow agent coddled the child, holding her close to her evidently braless chest, wrapping her arms around the infant, reading the notes of which returned to her hands. She peppered kisses in her daughter’s damp, clean hair as she bounced her legs.   
The other woman collected a bottle from the black cabinet, awaiting his answer, he thought, pouring the chilled, white milk. She placed it in the microwave, tapping a few unseen buttons. Before he could speak, Emily turned to face her wife. “Babe, you don’t have to do that. I was planning on ordering pizza or something. I know how tired you are,” she scrunched her nose, the way his close friend had cooed over for years and he saw the way the subtle gesture made his friend smile as she tested the temperature of the white liquid on her wrist.   
She sauntered back into the living room, capturing his attention with her freckled thighs exposed beneath short pajama shorts. “Well, I wish you both luck with the case. Little Sophia and I have a movie waiting for us upstairs,” she said feigning excitement, reclaiming the infant in her arms. The child latched onto the bottle, pressing the nipple between her lips. The older woman cupped her wife’s face with a free hand bringing her into a soft, loving kiss, and then, without removing the hand from the other woman’s cheek, she placed three kisses to her daughter’s fattened cheek. “Say ‘goodnight, Mama’.”   
His heart fluttered, lips curling into his usual smile for he accepted a gentle kiss placed over the stubble of his cheek. “G’night, Uncle Spencer,” she whispered, leaning the child toward him. He kissed her nose, widening his eyes jokingly which caused her to giggle over the clear nipple, milk dribbling from her mouth. The woman carried the child up the wooden staircase out of his view forcing his dark eyes to retreat to the other agent for whom he was truly there to see.  
“You two seem really happy,” he cleared his throat noticing the furrowing of the older woman’s brows. However, her tightened face softened as her eyes flickered up at him with a chuckle. “What?” he asked raising an eyebrow.   
She just smiled, and his eyes fell to her left hand where her thumb played with the glistening diamond ring. “We are very happy, Reid,” she mumbled. “Very, very happy.”


End file.
